They Made Me a Criminal

Director: Busby Berkeley Busby Berkeley

Overview

"An engaging programmer from 1939 gets a fairly decent DVD edition from Triton. The original source material shows some running scratches of various severity, but also seems to have had some restorative work done during the transfer process. The image maintains the original 1.37:1 aspect ratio, and appears to be anamorphic; on normal televisions and monitors extremely narrow bars will be visible. The print used is a little lacking in contrast, but does have good solid blacks with decent shadows. The image is unfortunately rather soft throughout, although grain and artifacting are absent and the picture is quite easy to watch. The dual-channel mono sound is good, considering the source, and generally manages to avoid distortion. Hiss and rumble have been removed in places, but are quite obvious in others. There are no subtitles. There are 13 chapter stops. The disc includes PC Friendly (promotional links, for the most part) and is packaged in a jewel case."

Product Details

Release Date:	07/30/2002
UPC:	0089218402097
Original Release:	1939
Source:	Alpha Video
Language:	English
Time:	1:32:00

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

John Garfield	Johnnie Bradfield/Jack Dorney
Claude Rains	Det. Monty Phelan
May Robson	Grandma Rafferty
Gloria Dickson	Peggy
Ann Sheridan	Goldie
Billy Halop	Tommy
Bobby Jordan	Angel
Leo Gorcey	Spit
Huntz Hall	Dippy
Gabriel Dell	T.B.
Bernard Punsley	Milty
Robert Gleckler	Doc Ward
John Ridgely	Charlie Magee
Barbara Pepper	Budgie
William B. Davidson	Inspector Ennis
Ward Bond	Lenihan,Reporter
Robert Strange	Malvin
Louis Jean Heydt	Smith
Ronald Sinclair	J. Douglas Williamson
Frank Riggi	Gaspar Rutchek
Cliff Clark	Rutchek's Manager
Dick Wessel	Collucci
Raymond Brown	Sheriff
Sam Hayes	Fight Announcer
Irving Bacon	Gas Station Attendant
Sam McDaniel	Splash
Bert Roach	Hendricks
Dorothy Varden	Woman
Eddy Chandler	Detective
Hal Craig	Detective
Jack Austin	Cop
Frank Meredith	Cop
Nat Carr	Reporter
Arthur Housman	Drunk
Elliott Sullivan	Hoodlum
Tom Dugan	Man
Frank Mayo	Man
Cliff Saum	Man
Al Lloyd	Man,Mrs. Williamson
John Sheehan	Man
Leyland Hodgson	Mr. Williamson
Stuart Holmes	Timekeeper
Bob Perry	Cawley
Clem Bevans	Ticket Taker
Jack Wise	Ticketman
Max Steiner	Composer

Technical Credits

Sig Herzig

Busby Berkeley	Director
Benjamin Glazer	Producer
Jack Warner	Producer
Hal Wallis	Producer
Sig Herzig	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

They Made Me a Criminal is an unusual movie, as well as an unusually good movie, on numerous counts. For starters, it is, along with John Huston's version of The Maltese Falcon, one of a handful of Hollywood remakes that are better than the original movies that they followed. Mostly, this comes from John Garfield's excellent performance as Johnny Bradfield/Jack Dorney, the vain, self-centered opportunist who finds a better side of himself at the lowest point in his life -- Garfield is good throughout the movie, but he is brilliant in the scenes in which he is staring adversity and then doom right in the face. He is supported by an excellent cast, including some of the best work ever done by those resident Warner Bros. delinquents the Dead End Kids, with a top-notch performance by Billy Halop as their leader. Along with Angels With Dirty Faces, this was the best of the Warner Bros. movies in which they appeared. Also notable were a pair of fine, earthy, lusty performances by Gloria Dickson and May Robson, as the two women who come to believe in Garfield's character. For most viewers the only weak link was Claude Rains as Detective Phelan -- most viewers find it hard to accept Rains as a tough New York detective, but he is sincere in his performance and suppresses his accent sufficiently to pull off the portrayal, despite some apparently awkward moments with the role. The movie was also extraordinary as the final Warner Bros. film of Busby Berkeley, who had begged and cajoled the studio for non-musical projects and so they gave him this film, a remake of the 1933 drama The Life of Jimmy Dolan. Berkeley ran with it, turning the movie into a showcase for more than half a dozen actors and even making room for a notably sympathetic performance from Louis Jean Heydt, playing a would-be boxer who is even more desperate for money than Dorney. Berkeley applied his skills at visual presentation, acquired in numerous musicals, to the fight sequence at the movie's climax with memorably brutal results. The movie was also one of the last of the major Warner Bros. movies to deal with the consequences of the Great Depression -- by 1940-1941, in the wake of the outbreak of the Second World War in Europe, and the gradual move toward re-armament of the United States, the lingering traces of unemployment would be forgotten; seen today They Made Me a Criminal offers a last look back at an impoverished but still resourceful America of the late '30s.